Letter: Stop breeding coyotes for target practice
Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune l-r Utah Division of Wildlife Resources predator management specialist, Jeff Cowlishaw, Tyler Peterson, 13, and his father Kelly Peterson watch as predator control program manager Xaela Walden documents coyote remains brought to her by the Petersons who shot the coyote in Box Elder County last week. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources predator-control program provides a $50 incentive for hunters to kill and properly document every coyote that they kill in Utah. Despite its success, the program is getting an overhaul to reign in criminal abuses and obtain better data to help officials assess what the program is accomplishing in terms of protecting mule deer and controlling predators.
INFORMATION-> We are meeting Xaela Walden, Wednesday, June 20, 2018
The last I looked, mule deer were not an endangered species. Where I live in Wayne County, we are up to our ears in mule deer, as well as rabbits, but woe unto the unwily coyote that shows his/her face around here. It is accepted science that when hunted excessively, coyotes will increase their reproduction to make up for it. Hence, it would appear that Utah, by paying $50 per coyote scalp, is in the business of breeding coyotes for target practice, using my taxpayer dollars. It's time for this archaic, unnecessary boondoggle to end.
Veronica Egan, Teasdale
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